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maziodynes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yes, it's meandering with an incredibly unreliable narrator. The pacing is challenging, and sometimes even frustrating. But the way every character and notable item is symbolic, representative of a deeply human feeling or a time in history - it's something that feels magical. It's a fantastical multi-generational story rooted in hard historical truths, and that's no easy task.
I'll be thinking about Saleem's story for a long, long time. And I'll never look at pickles the same way again!
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Suicide, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality and Dementia
notthatcosta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I tend to struggle with first person narration at the best of times, but when it's this indulgent, tangiential and scattered as this it became a slog to try and follow the plot. With a story as expansive, there were also a lot of characters (many having multiple names) which also made it hard to know which threads to pay attention to. Even our narrator often switched how he referred to himself...
While I would say Gabriel García Márquez's 100 Years of Solitude is a far better execution of a similar story (and even provided a graphic to help you follow the family tree), I really enjoyed book 2 because of its focus on the family and its dysfunction, which is always a winner for me in a novel. When it was meandering preamble about ancestors who you don't get much time with or our antihero being kind of awful, I was less invested.
On the positive side, it has a great premise and most of the plot is pretty riveting despite the execution being spotty. I can see why it's so beloved, because it's a remarkable work of fiction despite my critiques.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
travisppe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Infertility, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Classism, and Deportation
ruthywithas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Minor: Genocide, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent